“Through the 16th of February, Seattle is 8 degrees F below normal for the month,” says reader Chuck Clancy. “This is the 4th coldest first 16 days of February in the 75 years of records at Sea-Tac airport and the coldest in the last 30 years. The 3 years that were colder were 1989, 1949 and 1956.”

“This is according to the 3am discussion yesterday morning from the Seattle forecast office.”

Snow storms hammered California mountains for a fourth straight day, forcing closure of several routes to the Lake Tahoe ski-resort area, including about 70 miles (110 km) of I-80. Some resorts reported 3 feet (1 m) of snow since Thursday.

“Tahoe & Truckee are in whiteout conditions. All roads leading in & out of the basin are closed. S/R 267 is so deep that plows ca no longer plow. They have ordered up a large blower to try and clear the pass. I80 & Mt. Rose Highway are also closed. Please stay home,” warned Placer County sheriff Lt. Andrew Scott.

An additional 3 to 6 feet (1 to 2 m) of snow was expected

Meanwhile, California’s Mammoth Mountain, about 140 miles (225 km) southeast of Lake Tahoe, was about to break a more than 30-year record for monthly snowfall, resort spokesman Justin Romano said.

The resort has already received 163 inches (414 cm) of snow this month alone, just 5 inches shy of its snowfall record for the entire month of February, set in 1986.